Battle Lines
by Britannicus
Summary: The USS Righteous and USS Intrepid find themselves facing some not-so-unfamiliar foes...


Prologue  
  
Dr. Andrew Hawke, head of the USS Galileo's science staff, gazed  
through the large window of his quarters and relaxed. He had finished  
twelve straight hours in Stellar Cartography charting protostars and using  
gravimetric readouts to predict the course of the movement of the  
Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way through the next million-odd years. He  
looked out at the stars he had dedicated his life to studying, the stars he  
had been puzzling over for over twenty years, trying to learn everything he  
could about them. Dr. Hawke spotted some familiar stars, stars he helped  
discover and stars that made his career. He saw the same little points of  
light that people had puzzled over for millions of years and were only  
recently beginning to really understand their workings.  
  
His lights dimmed and the window went dark. At first Hawke thought  
it was part of the computer's timer cycle, but it was only 1930 hours.  
Then he heard it. As the shadow crossed his window and darkened his room,  
a low whining and rumbling emanated from it. It had to be a spacecraft.  
He couldn't quite make it out, but the shape looked familiar...Suddenly, there  
was a bright flash of green light-  
  
Discontinuity.  
  
At Starbase 235, Admiral Jeffrey Brand had just called a meeting  
with the two visiting starship captains, Captain Murphy of the USS  
Righteous, an Excelsior-class ship with a proud history, and Captain  
Andropov of the USS Intrepid, one of the newest "Batch II" Galaxy-class  
starships.  
  
The captains took their places and the admiral spoke. "We have  
lost a starship, the USS Galileo, on a science mission near the Beta   
Stromgren system. She was completely destroyed by an as yet unidentified  
black vessel. There are a few things we do know about this threat.   
We know what it isn't. It's not ours, it's not Romulan or Klingon, and   
it's definitely not Borg. In fact, we've never seen anything like it   
before. Galileo's log tapes do show us one thing, however, that the ship   
seems organic-looking and teardrop-shaped, and there could be more than   
one of them."  
  
Andropov was in disbelief. "You mean it's a living ship?"  
  
Before the admiral could answer, a familiar voice that they had  
never expected to hear again came on over the loudspeakers. "This is Tam  
Elbrun aboard the Gomtuu. I believe we have an explanation for this  
situation. It was foretold in the ancient texts of Gomtuu's civilization.  
Several of his kind separated themselves from society long ago and  
departed. It was prophesied that they would return to pass judgment upon  
the rest of their civilization. They have returned. It is these exiled  
enemies that we must face."  
  
  
  
I  
The Battle  
  
  
"Sir, the alien ship is firing!" The weapons officer on the  
Intrepid and everyone else on the bridge could only watch as the green bolt  
of energy consumed and destroyed the Gomtuu.  
  
"Where are my quantum torpedoes? Get closer and open up with full  
weapons," ordered Captain Murphy aboard the Righteous.  
  
"We have the enemy in range now, sir," came the call of the weapons  
officer.  
  
"Fire!," shouted Captain Andropov. As the Intrepid moved into  
position, a large robotic arm lowered a high-yield quantum torpedo into the  
mouth of the launch tube. But something in the many wires and tubes on the  
arm slipped, causing a joint to twitch out of position. The torpedo was  
live as it fell from the arm's grasp onto the deck, where it exploded with  
such force that all two hundred other torpedoes in the bay also detonated   
in a furious explosion. The ship lurched and shook wildly. On the bridge,   
officers and crewmen were trying frantically to process the damage and   
casualty reports flooding the intercom system from all over the ship.   
On board the Righteous nearby, tactical officers were in a similar state of   
panic.  
  
"Sir, we have detected a massive explosion from Intrepid! She's  
losing power and drifting."  
  
"On screen...My God!" Righteous's commanding officer could not  
believe his eyes. Nearly half the ship was missing. Where her forward  
stardrive hull should be, there was now a gaping, charred, and twisted  
hole. As they were attempting to fathom the situation, the ship rocked  
with another explosion.  
  
"Sir, we've been hit hard. Our shields are down to ten percent and  
they've taken out our tractor beam."  
  
"Report!" came the cry from the command chair as Captain Andropov  
desperately tried to remain in control of Intrepid.  
  
"Sir, we've lost contact with decks 18 through 35 and 37 through  
42, we have no shields, and our weapons are gone! However, Engineering  
reports main power under control and warp drive is still online."  
  
"We need to get out of here before anything else happens. We're  
like sitting ducks out here. Set course for the nearest starbase, maximum  
possible warp." Down in Engineering, on deck 36, the warp core, the heart  
of the Intrepid, began to beat faster as her engines filled with plasma for  
the jump to lightspeed. But something went seriously wrong. Several   
weakened ducts tore open, releasing deadly plasma coolant into the room.   
Many of the engineering crewmen barely had time to comprehend what was   
happening as the gas liquefied them in a matter of seconds.  
  
"Coolant leak! Everybody out of the area! Containment doors are  
closing! Move, move," came the frantic shouts of the chief engineer,  
Commander Simpson, trying to get everybody out of there as quick as possible  
before the huge containment doors closed, sealing off the warp core  
completely.  
  
"What now," the captain asked as Intrepid was rocked by another  
explosion.  
  
"We've just lost deck 36, sir, and the chief engineer reports a  
coolant leak, possible breach of the warp core!"  
  
"We must eject the core!" shouted one of the security personnel on  
the bridge.  
  
"Yes, eject! Now!" The captain confirmed the request. "Wait!   
I have an idea..." Andropov leaned over to speak to the security officer.  
  
"Aye, sir," came the confused acknowledgement. Outside, the   
Intrepid banked and her underside slowly faced the enemy vessel. A hull   
plate burst off and a huge silver cylinder shot out of the opening,   
engulfed in and followed by clouds of high-energy plasma and coolant gases.  
Everything seemed as if in slow motion as the ejected matter/antimatter   
reactor came closer to its target. Finally, the core impacted on the hull   
of the alien spacecraft and exploded in a flash of light and energy,   
engulfing the ship in a huge explosion, vaporizing it, and blowing Intrepid   
and Righteous back in a powerful shock wave.  
  
With the battle over, Righteous's crew began to help the crippled  
Intrepid. "So what can we do to help them?"  
  
"Just tow her to the nearest starbase,sir. I think it's Starbase 235-"  
  
"Lieutenant, we have no tractor beam."  
  
On Intrepid, the situation was no different. "Transmit distress  
signal on all channels," came the order from Captain Andropov, followed by  
a barked "Damage report!"  
  
"We have casualty reports from all decks below 10, sir, and hull  
breaches on decks 19 through 42. Emergency forcefields and bulkheads are  
in place, and we have limited power from the fusion reactors. We're fine  
for now, sir, but we may be having some trouble later."  
  
Just then, the main viewscreen filled with the huge, sinister black  
form of another enemy ship. Frantically, Andropov ordered, "Get us out of  
here! NOW! Impulse, thrusters, anything!"  
  
"Nothing. We're just sitting ducks here."  
  
On board the Righteous, Captain Murphy shouted orders. "Fire   
a spread of torpedoes!" Outside, four high-yield quantum torpedoes blazed   
blue-white as they streaked in a perfect line towards the black ship.  
When they hit, the vessel rocked and exploded into several large chunks which  
drifted slowly away spewing gas and debris.  
  
The lights on the Intrepid dimmed for no more than a second. "What  
was that," asked Captain Andropov.  
  
"Minor fluctuations in the power grid, sir. We're having some  
trouble rerouting power through the main fusion reactors."  
  
"Well, then, it seems, Lieutenant, that you have a new job to do."  
  
"Right away, sir," said the security officer as he dashed into the   
turbolift.  
  
The lights dimmed again.  
  
  
  
II  
Power  
  
  
"Ops, divert all auxiliary power to life support and see if  
Captain Murphy on the Righteous has any help to offer. Get moving, we're  
running out of time!"  
  
On the bridge of the Righteous, the command crew was already at  
work. "Sir, don't we have some emergency mooring and starbase support  
lines? We could hook up with the Intrepid, run our warp core at a higher  
pace, and keep both ships up and running. Our reactor never runs above 60%  
capacity anyway. There's plenty of spare energy."  
  
"Good plan, Commander. Start work on it immediately. Do whatever  
you need to do to get the system up and running." Captain Murphy sat down  
and thought about the situation. He had to find a way to get them to a  
starbase or any place but here. Just then his train of thought was  
interrupted by an intrusive beeping from his desktop viewer.The screen told  
him there was an incoming message from Admiral Brand, the commander of  
forces in the sector. He went straight to the point.  
  
"Captain Murphy, we have received a distress call from you about  
the Intrepid. Here are your orders. You are to evacuate as many personnel  
from Intrepid and report to Starbase 235 for repairs. A salvage team will  
be sent out later to pick up what is left afterwards."  
  
"Sir, I have an alternative I think is worth considering. Right  
now we have extended umbilicals to Intrepid to keep her supplied with  
power. We are making repairs to her vital systems so that she can make it  
back to base."  
  
"Good. Continue with your work and I'll try to get some ships out  
to help you."  
  
"Thank you,sir." Captain Murphy pressed a button on his viewer,  
ending the transmission.  
  
Righteous's chief engineer entered Murphy's ready room. "Sir, the  
mooring cables and tethers are in place. Intrepid is hooked up to us and  
power to both ships has been restored."  
  
"Good work, Commander. Now let's work on a method of getting us to  
starbase 235. We can reach it in four days at full impulse."  
  
"Yes sir. I'll put my teams on the job right away."  
  
  
  
III  
The Journey  
  
  
Down in Main Engineering, Righteous's chief engineer began to  
implement his plan. "Okay, everybody, this is what we have to do. We need  
to divert all power being used to keep Intrepid alive to her impulse  
engines, combining with her available fusion reactors. We also need to  
modify our impulse drive to run only on power from our fusion reactors.  
Commander Simpson, this is Commander McCombs aboard the Righteous. We're  
ready to make the modifications now."  
  
"Good. Proceed as planned," came the answer from Simpson over the  
comm system.  
  
Up on the bridge, Murphy was also preparing to get underway. "Lt.  
Commander Thomas, I need you to match speed with Intrepid throughout the  
entire journey. Otherwise, the umbilicals will snap and we will fail.  
Let's get moving."  
  
A cheer erupted from the crew of the Intrepid as they started to  
move towards the starbase, now only a three days away. In a short time,  
they would be safely docked.  
  
Just outside Starbase 235's sensor range a few hours later,  
Intrepid slowed slightly, straining the umbilicals. The power line between  
the ships snapped and Intrepid's power systems completely died, giving them  
about ten minutes of oxygen left, now that the scrubbers were off. Murphy  
immediately stopped his ship and, knowing the situation, dispatched orders  
quickly. "Lieutenant, take one of your men to the airlock. I'll join you  
two there in a few minutes. Chief, I want your transporter operators  
standing by to beam over Intrepid's crew if anything goes wrong." With  
that, Murphy headed down to the airlock closest to the snapped umbilical.  
  
"Lieutenant Miller, I called you and Mr. Kyle down here because we  
need to repair that umbilical. We only have six minutes left." The three  
men, after putting on their spacesuits, headed outside the ship to repair  
the power cable. They immediately pulled out their tools and began to fuse  
the ends together. "Be sure not to get too close to Righteous's end of the  
cable," Murphy reminded.  
  
Suddenly Kyle spoke up. "Sir, I'm reading a rise in power through  
the cable!"  
  
"Stay away," Murphy warned.  
  
"I can't! I'm drifting towards the cable! Help, it's a power  
surge! I..." There was a flash of light as the giant spark vaporized Kyle.  
As the surge of current passed through Kyle's body, the lights in the  
Intrepid went on for an instant, the went dark again as Kyle  
disintegrated."Sir, we have less than two minutes to complete these  
repairs," Miller warned.  
  
"Do it and get out of here before we both end up like Kyle!" The  
two worked faster. Power to Intrepid was restored just in time.  
  
"How many did we lose?"  
  
"Just one. Ensign Kyle."  
  
"Let's go. Keep an eye on that console, Lieutenant."  
  
"Aye, sir."  
  
  
  
IV  
Planetfall  
  
  
"Sir, we are approaching the Marnis system," said the conn  
officer after several uneventful hours.  
  
"Isn't there a medical research facility on Marnis III," asked Murphy.  
  
"Correct, sir. Maybe we can offload some of the casualties and get  
some preliminary repairs done."  
  
"Good idea, Lieutenant. Assume standard orbit around Marnis III  
and transmit a signal explaining the situation." The Righteous and  
Intrepid entered orbit on the far side of the planet, away from the medical  
base. As they approached, however, things became unusual...  
  
"Sir, I am detecting an abnormality on the planet's surface, near  
the location of the base. A large crater and huge magnetometer readings  
indicating a large metallic mass. The base is gone, almost as if it's  
been...scooped off the face of the planet!"  
  
"Oh no. It can't be the..."  
  
The science officer on duty finished the sentence for him. "The Borg."  
  
Muprhy's comm badge beeped. "Sir, incoming message from the Intrepid."  
  
"What is it, Captain?"  
  
"Jeff, are we seeing what I think we're seeing?"  
  
"Yes, Nikolai. I think, however, we should assemble heavily armed  
away teams to see if there is anything left and if it's safe to go down  
there."  
  
"Agreed. Andropov out."  
  
Murphy assembled his team quickly. "Simpson, Thomas, and Mendez,  
you're with me."  
  
When they got down to the planet, they retuned their phaser rifles  
to different frequencies to counter the Borg adaptation abilities. They  
proceeded towards the readings of a large metallic object.  
  
They had only gone a hundred meters or so when they heard that  
distinct metallic breathing and knew that there were still Borg drones  
around. Their tricorders went crazy with readings of metallic objects in  
this barren wasteland. It was then that they knew why this crater was  
unlike any other mark that the Borg leave on a planet. They looked up to  
see a stupendous sight. It was a Borg mother ship, in the shape of  
a dodecahedron and looming stupendously several thousand feet over them,  
even though almost three-quarters of it was buried in a crater in the   
ground. They must have come too close, because suddenly they were   
surrounded by Borg, bionic appendages raised. Mendez shot one of them   
and was instantly cut down by a volley of green energy blasts from the   
other Borg, who now closed in on Murphy, Thomas, and Simpson with their   
assimilation drills and probes spinning. The three instinctively fought  
in self-defense, shooting five and killing the rest in hand-to hand combat.  
The three officers accomplished this by using their knowledge of Borg   
operation. They simply outmaneuvered the Borg punches and pulled the life  
support cables protruding from their necks.  
  
When the fight was over, Murphy slapped his comm badge.  
"Righteous, get us out of here, now! Move away from the planet and send an  
urgent report about what we found here to Starfleet Command. Ask them what  
we should do about this."  
  
"Aye sir," came the reply from the Righteous's bridge.  
  
After the two starships had retreated safely to Marnis V, a point  
out of range of the Borg yet still able to monitor them, Murphy received a  
reply from Earth. The screen on his desktop viewer read, "URGENT-PRIORITY  
1 MESSAGE FROM STARFLEET COMMAND."  
  
"What can I do for you, Admiral?"  
  
"Captain, your report on the crashed Borg ship was of utmost  
importance to us. We need some way to counter this threat to the  
Federation."  
  
"Sir, from what we found on the surface, the research facility was  
completely obliterated. Maybe, if we concentrate fire from many starships  
on that Borg ship or another unstable area of the planet's crust, we can  
destroy the ship."  
  
"Or...Is there anything else in the Marnis system of use to us? If  
we destroy the Marnis star, we will be able to delete the entire system."  
  
"My computer shows that Marnis III was uninhabited before we  
established that facility. And the only other planets capable of  
supporting life have no life on them."  
  
"Good. Do you have the published works of a Dr. Soran on file?"  
  
"Yes, sir. Wasn't he the fanatical El-Aurian who destroyed star  
systems so that he could go to paradise?"  
  
"Correct, Captain. He came up with a design for a torpedo carrying  
trilithium. This torpedo can destroy a star, causing a shock wave that  
will vaporize the entire star system."  
  
"I see where you are going with this. It seems to be our only  
choice at this point. It looks like the Borg were attempting to salvage  
their ship. We need to destroy it before they do that. I'll get my people  
on it right away."  
  
"Good luck, Captain." The screen went blank.  
  
  
  
V  
Obliteration  
  
  
"Ready to fire trilithium torpedo, sir."  
  
"All right, Lieutenant. Load it into the aft launcher and move us  
a safe distance away so that we can escape on impulse."  
  
"Aye sir. Ready to fire, sir."  
  
"Fire and engage impulse drive at maximum on a heading for Starbase  
235. Resume our previous course."  
  
"Yes, captain." The torpedo streaked away from the escaping ships  
at lightspeed and hit the Marnis sun. The sky went dark over the Borg  
crash site as th remaining drones attempted to interpret the data that  
their visual scanners were showing them, and seconds later the entire star  
system was reduced to rubble and cinders by the shock wave.  
  
"Captain, subspace shock wave incoming! ETA to impact fifteen seconds!"  
  
"All hands, brace for impact!" The shock wave, even now dampened  
by its travel through space, still hit the ships with more force than that  
of the exploding warp core. The power umbilicals ruptured and Intrepid was  
sent hurtling off into space. With her sensors offline, damaged by the  
force of the shock wave, Righteous had no choice but to continue on to the  
starbase.  
  
Captain Andropov aboard the Intrepid was just coming around again.  
The last thing he had seen before passing out were crewmen and ensigns  
running about the bridge with inertial dampers on the ship offline. He  
looked and saw his first officer trying to regain control of the 700-meter  
long, battered and crippled Galaxy-class starship they were in, knowing  
that if they couldn't get power, even just life support, back online, the  
Intrepid would become the final resting place of nearly a thousand people,  
himself included. In almost pitch darkness, he groped for the supply  
locker, containing emergency and away team gear from phasers to food. Once  
he found it, he instructed everyone in range of his comm badge to put on an  
oxygen mask and stay put. Moving around expends too much of the precious  
gas, and in these kinds of situations, that is not advisable. His first  
officer pushed a dead crewman, crushed by being thrown around when the ship  
was hit, off of a computer console. To his and Andropov's surprise, it  
still flickered with light. Immediately the two set to work trying to  
transmit a distress signal and attempting to get life support online. They  
got the signal sent, but the console flickered once again and went dark  
before they could complete work on systems repair. Discouraged, Andropov  
staggered back to his command chair and blacked out again.  
  
Meanwhile, the Righteous had safely docked alongside Enterprise and  
Venture at Starbase 235. Captain Murphy immediately went to Admiral  
Brand's office, where Captain Picard of the Enterprise and Captain Rogers  
of the Venture. "Sir, we lost Intrepid while transiting from Marnis. She  
was torn away when the shock wave hit. We believe she-  
  
"Admiral Brand, there is a distress signal from Intrepid, audio only."  
  
"Put it through, Commander." What the four officers heard was a  
static-filled, garbled distress call.  
  
"SOS...SO.....This is the Fed......arship Intrepid. We have been  
badly dam.......equest assis..........iately. Please hurr..........Our  
positZZT"  
  
"The message has been lost, sir. I think I have a fix on their  
position, though."  
  
"Get Enterprise,Venture, and Righteous underway. We need to rescue  
those survivors right away." Within five minutes, the three starships were  
on their way, racing to Intrepid's suspected position.  
  
What they saw was horrific. The entire starship was in an asteroid  
field, surrounded by a huge cloud of gases and plasma emanating from its  
own hull, and it was slowly drifting. All the lights were dark.  
  
"We've got to get the crew out of there now. The whole ship's  
going to blow," Captain Rogers exclaimed.  
  
"How? We can't beam through an asteroid field."  
  
"Sir, sensors show that the Intrepid's main fusion reactors and  
power generators will reach critical in less than an hour!"  
  
"Murphy to Enterprise and Venture. Start beaming over as many  
people as you can as fast as you can."  
  
The reply came almost instantly. "Aye sir. We're using all  
available pads and beaming casualties to sickbay."  
  
About half an hour later, the transporter chiefs reported in again.  
"Sir, we have just about finished the evacuation. All that's left is the  
captain. We still don't have a lock on him."  
  
"Keep trying, Commander." The captains looked back to the  
viewscreen just in time to see a horrific sight. The Intrepid's main  
reactors exploded in a flash of light, and what was left of the ship's main  
support strut was totally demolished. The two halves of the once-proud  
Galaxy-class starship tumbled away from each other, and both sections  
crashed into many of the surrounding asteroids, pulverizing the last  
remnants of the ship.  
  
"My God. He was still in there," Murphy whispered in disbelief.  
  
Only Picard stayed cool and calm. "Let's get out of here before we  
get hit as well." The three ships slowly pulled away from the asteroids  
and pieces of glowing wreckage and warped out. Several hours later, so did  
a small type-8 probe.  
  
  
  
VI  
Reunion  
  
  
Several hours after the three ships returned to the starbase,  
Admiral Brand began to write his report on what had happened in the past  
days. He was just finishing the first paragraph when he was interrupted by  
a call.  
  
"Sir, we have picked up a signal. It's very faint, but it's  
definitely Federation. We think it's probe of some sort."  
  
"Well, tow it in and examine it. I'll be right there." Brand laid  
down his padd and left for the shuttlebay.  
  
What they found was a work of ingenuity and last-minute planning.  
When they opened the probe, they found a rigged distress beacon. The real  
joy came when they opened the main compartment. Inside they found Captain  
Andropov in stasis. He was rushed to sickbay and revived.  
  
"You didn't think a starship blowing up could snuff me out, did  
you, Jeff? Even the Borg tried three times to do that and failed!"  
  
"It's good to have you back, Nikolai."  
  
That evening over dinner, the officers of the starbase and the  
starships docked there watched the news reports from Earth. One of the  
breaking stories was that of the Intrepid. The reporter, a Vulcan named  
T'Palik (Vulcans usually made good reporters because they had no emotions)  
began speaking. "Starfleet has just completed a major operation in Alpha  
Quadrant today, as a task force consisting of the Galaxy-class starship  
Intrepid and the Excelsior-class starship Righteous repelled an attack by  
an as-yet unknown alien civilization. The only comments commanding  
officer Admiral Jeffrey Brand had were that the civilization encountered  
had been recorded by Starfleet earlier, but never deemed hostile until now.  
During the battle, the Intrepid was crippled by the aliens' weapons and  
reduced to impulse power only. An umbilical was erected between the two  
ships to supply enough power for Intrepid to transit back home. However,  
the unusual and completely unexplained explosion of the Marnis star just as  
they passed broke the bond and sent Intrepid into the asteroid field formed  
by the remains of the Marnis system. All planets in the system were  
annihilated by the blast. A rescue operation was immediately launched by  
the starships Righteous, Venture, and Enterprise, rescuing all hands but  
not the ship. It exploded as a massive asteroid ploughed into its side."  
  
As is standard Starfleet procedure, Captain Andropov was  
court-martialed for the loss of Intrepid. He was not convicted of any  
criminal charges by the Federation Council. Instead the Council voted  
unanimously to award him the Federation Medal of Honor with Clusters for  
risking his life so that the lives of all 1,018 crew on the Intrepid could  
be saved. Andropov was also promoted to Commodore and awarded command of a  
new Improved Sovereign-class vessel, the USS Intrepid, originally christened the  
Olympic in honor of a great Earth sailing ship.  
  
Andropov was hounded by reporters and officers as he boarded his  
shining new command for its maiden voyage to his new home and Intrepid's  
permanent base, Starbase 9. A crowd of thousands watched the gallant ship  
and her crew ignite the massive tetryon plasma engines and warp off into  
the unknown.  
  
  
The End 


End file.
